Controversy? What Controversy?

Time for a few updates and what-nots.  I've decided to return to the mostly-weekly updates I had before, and I might as well do a bit more analysis while I'm at it.

Canucks Scores

• March 23: 3-2 loss to the Oilers.  Very disappointing game.  Luongo did not show up to play.  In fact, neither did most of the team.  Tom Gilbert, Andrew Cogliano, and Robert Nilsson scored for the Oilers, while Mason Raymond and Daniel Sedin scored for the Canucks.  Wellwood was the best Canuck player on the ice, making some huge offensive plays, but Jeff Deslauriers was way too good in the Oilers net.
• March 24: 4-1 win against the Ducks.  Much better game.  After dismal play from Luongo in Edmonton, Vigneault went ahead as planned and put Raycroft in net.  This proved to be the right choice for the night, as Raycroft made 30 saves and nearly had a shutout (Saku Koivu scored 8 minutes into the 3rd period) and had his name chanted through GM Place.  Christian Ehrhoff, Alex Burrows, and Daniel Sedin all scored, and Ryan Kesler potted the empty netter at the end.  Quick highlight: Daniel's goal was definitely an interesting one.

Western Conference: Where will the Canucks finish?

Wow, is it already only 3 weeks left in the regular season?  Time sure does fly, doesn't it?
At this point, all the analysis has already begun regarding a certain topic: who makes the playoffs.  At the moment, with 92 points and the NW lead, the Canucks are only a couple games away from locking a playoff spot.  My question, however, is which spot?
All the analysis you'll be hearing everywhere else is about who will get the 8th seed in each conference, which is quite an interesting topic.  Right now, in the West, it's a battle between Detroit and Calgary, although St. Louis and Minnesota could still have an impact by stringing together a few wins.  However, for the Canucks, the more interesting story is in the top 4 seeds.  As of this morning, Chicago holds 1st with 97 points and the Central Division lead (CN), San Jose is in 2nd with 96 points and the Pacific Division lead (PC), and Vancouver is in 3rd with 92 points and the NW lead.  The 4th spot is Phoenix, with 95 points.  Now this is the race I want to look at, because I want to show how Vancouver could still win the West.

*A couple really good links to follow right now are the conference standings and Sports Club Stats.

Updates Galore

Sorry, I haven't touched this blog in almost 2 months now....
First things first:  I have changed the name and link to this site.  This is now "Talking Nucks".  I got tired of "The Canuck Puck Bunny".  Besides, Talking Nucks sounds more professional, especially if my dreams ever come true of having an NHL player fall head over heels in love with me....

Now, onto Canucks business:
-The team survived the Olympic road trip, going 8-5-1 :)  Here's the team scores and schedule.
-The Olympics in Vancouver were very successful, with Canada setting a record for number of gold medals with 14.  For men's hockey, Luongo got gold with Canada, Kesler got silver with USA, and Salo got bronze with Finland.
-Canucks are still holding on to the NW lead, right now by 5 points.  They are also only 5 points behind both Chicago and San Jose, who hold 1st and 2nd in the conference.
-Speaking of conference standings, here they are.
-Washington is the only team so far to have clinched a playoff spot, and look to get the President's Trophy.  Meanwhile, Edmonton has dropped out of playoff contention completely, and looks to get 1st pick in the 2010 draft.
-Sports Club Stats is a really good site to follow right now.  It shows each team's likelihoods of making the playoffs, what they need to reach certain seeds, and what other teams will help them by winning against opponents.

As always, follow my Twitter feed and Nucks Misconduct, as well as the other sites linked on the sidebar.